Days Go By: Fractured Decay
by Cella N
Summary: It’s a friendship like those in legends. Minus the happy ending. TATSUKI. ORIHIME. How they began, and how the grew apart.


**Title:** Days Go By (Fractured Decay)  
**Author:** Cella  
**Rating**: PG  
**Fandom:** BLEACH  
**Ship/Characters:** Tatsuki Arisawa Tatsuki x Orihime friendship  
**Disclaimer:** All is of Kubo Tite. Duh.  
**Dedication:** To Tatsuki herself, because she's sadly too underappreciated.  
**Summary:** _It's a friendship like those in legends. Minus the happy ending. _TATSUKI. ORIHIME. How they began, and how the grew apart.

**Days Go By (Fractured Decay)**  
_You and me  
We used to be together  
Everyday together always  
I really feel  
That I'm losing my best friend  
I can't believe  
This could be the end   
It looks as though you're letting go  
And if it's real  
Well I don't want to know  
No Doubt, 'Don't Speak'_

The first time Tatsuki talks to Orihime, it's to ask her to let Tatsuki pass into the classroom, and stop hogging the space.

The first time Tatsuki _really_ has a talk with Orihime, is the day after Orihime has lost her brother. Tatsuki tries hard to cheer the girl up, walking with her until their roads split. Tatsuki goes home to her family, and Orihime goes home, where she'll be alone.

The day after Sora's death, Tatsuki takes Orihime to her home, where they have dinner. Orihime cries through the first course, and eats very little afterwards. Tatsuki tells her to stay for the night. They share a bed, and Orihime whispers in the dead of the night about how she wishes her family were like Tatsuki, and about how lucky Tatsuki-chan was. Tatsuki turns around in bed, and hugs Orihime to her, letting the little girl cry until she falls asleep.

The day Tatsuki realises Orihime has a crush on Ichigo, she's surprised at her own jealousy. She's not sure who she likes more: Ichigo or Orihime. Ichigo she's known since they were little, and they have their history. Orihime, she's sworn to protect, and she has turned into her best friends over the years. She decides, on the spot, that if the two, Ichigo and Orihime, end up being happy, Tatsuki will be happy as well. It doesn't matter how it will happen.

The day after Orihime returns from her 'vacation', they have a chat over ice cream. Tatsuki wants to laugh at Orihime's silliness, to tell the girl to stop eating the ice cream if it's so cold. Tatsuki also wants to cry, because there is something different about Orihime, something has changed.

Days go by, and the distance starts growing wider and wider. Tatsuki barely finds the time to speak to Orihime, the girl is now integrated in the group of new students, and Tatsuki is torn between anger and jealousy. Then one day, strangers arrive into town, and Tatsuki almost dies. She is conscious enough to know that it's Orihime who is carrying her away from the battle, and she wants to tell the other girl to run, before she realises that Orihime _is_ running. She's running with Tatsuki, placing Tatsuki behind a tree. And then she's running back to the battle. Tatsuki still has enough energy left to see the first half of the battle. It's enough for her to see Orihime putting up some shield of orange energy, healing up Sado, and ending up hurt, lying on the ground. She faints soon after that, thinking about how Orihime has changed, and how she seems different, but not. And how she wishes the other girl's okay.

More days pass, and Orihime keeps closing herself from the world, leaving Tatsuki with cryptic excuses of 'I'm not helping them any'. Tatsuki witnesses Ichigo fighting a…_something_. She doesn't realise how blind to the world she's been, until later, when at home; in her bed, back leaning against the wall, trying not to think about how it's obvious that her friends are waging a battle against something half the people will never see. The next days at school, she finds Orihime's smiles fake, and even goes as far as finding the girl crying in the bathroom one day. Tatsuki wants to tell her that it's okay, she wants to tell her that she'll protect Orihime, but she has a feeling that protection is not what Orihime wants.

The day Orihime stops coming to school, Tatsuki runs home, closes herself in her room and cries. She cries for not having cried before, for Orihime, for Ichigo, for everyone. She cries because she knows something big will happen, she knows no one is safe, and she knows that she can't do anything to stop that. Then, after all the tears have been shed, Tatsuki hopes. She hopes Orihime is alright. She hopes Ichigo is alright. She hopes for them all to survive whatever battle comes. She hopes, most of all, that when all of this is over, Orihime would come back. She hopes for their friendship to return to what it was before. Tatsuki hopes she'll have the strength to not let their friendship go to waste.

But most of all she hopes for Orihime to end up being happy, in the end; because that is what a wonderful friend like Inoue Orihime deserves. Happiness. 

::end:::  
::Tatsuki-chan, I'm so glad you're alright:::


End file.
